If you’re looking for a way to boost your TikTok engagement, you’re probably trying to figure out the best time to post on TikTok for 2024.
And to that, I say, first of all–I’m not a wizard. I can’t magically guarantee that this article will give you the infallibly best times to post on TikTok. However, I HAVE done a ton of research to give you some great places to start.
So in this article, you’ll find my take on the best time to post on TikTok, as well as:
- A deep dive into all the factors influencing TikTok engagement (and visibility)
- How often to post on TikTok.
- Why it matters that you post the right things at the right times
- Some basics on how to post and schedule posts on TikTok
- How to get the content you need for TikTok
That’s a lot to cover–so let’s get started!
What factors influence engagement?
The best time to post on TikTok is the time & day when you’ll get the most engagement.
But how the heck are you supposed to know when that is?
Don’t worry–I got you. Here are the main factors that you’ll need to consider to find the best time to post:
Lifestyle
Whenever you can, study the behavior of your followers. When are they most active on TikTok?
You’re probably not going to be able to find a schedule for your audience’s TikTok usage anywhere, but you can start by imagining how they live their lives: Are they working full-time? Are they stay-at-home moms? Freelancers? What does their daily schedule look like, and how does that affect when they’re watching TikToks?
Of course, you won’t know anything without testing to see which time gets the most engagement. But it’s still worth thinking about this–after all, how are you supposed to know which times to start with if you haven’t considered how your audience lives?
For example, if your audience is mainly stay-at-home moms, they might have a bit more flexibility to check social media during the day–after all, what parent hasn’t watched a little TikTok during naptime? But if you’re trying to reach professionals with 9-5 jobs, they will be busy during those hours.
You get the point. Look at your TikTok audience and see who’s already watching your content. See how old they are, their gender, where they live, and any other insights you can find. Use those starting points to craft the story of what their life might look like, then start testing different posting times.
Oh, and don’t expect to figure this out overnight. Posting times can be a maze!
Content type
You’ll also need to test the type of content you post to see what generates the most engagement. Here’s a good way to approach it:
Imagine you’re posting to your account three times per week: on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. For the next month, try using this structure:
- Monday: Post funny content. This can be memes related to your niche or anything you find humorous.
- Wednesday: Post informative content. Pick one insight from your industry and post your opinion on it.
- Saturday: Post educational content. Give a practical, step-by-step lesson on something your audience might be interested in. For example, a post like “3 tips to get more followers on TikTok by TOMORROW” would be a great topic if you’re in the social media management space.
After you’ve tried this structure for a month, take a few minutes to assess which types of posts got the most engagement.
Now, many factors are involved in engagement (most of them are related to the algorithm, which we can’t control), but this gives you a good baseline to keep testing. For example, if your audience responds well to educational content, the next step might be adding more to your rotation.
Day of the week
You might already know this, but weekdays and weekends have different levels of engagement. Different audiences are collectively more likely to check social media on certain days (like office workers on Friday afternoons).
Again, testing is the answer to figuring out the best days of the week for YOUR followers. After you know as much as you can about them and the kinds of posts they like seeing from you, start switching up which days you post. For example, if you follow the Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday schedule above for a month, switch it up slightly the next month and see what days perform better.
Current trends
This is THE BEST way to get on the TikTok algorithm’s good side. When you use trending sounds and hashtags on your account, you’re giving TikTok a reason to push your content into people’s For You pages. And, if you’ve already figured out the best times to post your content on TikTok, using a trending sound can give you an extra boost.
Honestly, even though I put it last, this is probably the most important factor when it comes to growing your TikTok account. TikTok prioritizes engagement, which means that it shows content that gets a lot of likes, comments, and shares more often. A really good way to get this engagement is by jumping on ongoing trends.
What are the best times to post on TikTok?
Here are the best times to post on TikTok, by day of the week. Please note that these are very generic best times, and you’ll want to do your own testing to see what’s best for your audience.
Best times to post on TikTok: Monday
The best time to post on TikTok on Monday is 10 AM or 9 PM.
10 AM has the most engagement, so that’s ideal. But if you miss the morning window or want to post twice, there’s a second, smaller peak later in the evening.
Best times to post on TikTok: Tuesday
The best time to post on TikTok on Tuesday is 4 PM.
Again, there’s a second engagement spike between 6 and 7 PM, so that’s a nice backup, but 4 PM is ideal.
Best times to post on TikTok: Wednesday
The best time to post on TikTok is Wednesday at 4 PM. (again)
7 PM is a great backup if you miss 4 PM, but earlier is better.
Best times to post on TikTok: Thursday
The best times to post on TikTok on Thursday are 9 AM, 11 AM, and 4 PM.
The morning slots (9 AM and 11 AM) are better, so aim for those.
Best times to post on TikTok: Friday
The best times to post on TikTok on Friday are 8 AM and 1 PM.
8 AM is slightly better–but if you forgot to schedule the post, lunchtime works too!
Best times to post on TikTok: Saturday
The best time to post on TikTok on Saturday is 11 AM. However, anytime between 11 AM and 2 PM is fine. The earlier, the better.
Best times to post on TikTok: Sunday
The best time to post on TikTok on Sunday is 2 PM.
According to the data, 2 PM is optimal–but 4 PM and 8 PM are okay too.
How often to post on TikTok
If you’ve checked out other articles on the best posting practices for TikTok, chances are you’ve run into this advice:
“Post all the time! Post every moment of your life! Post, post, post! You live on TikTok now!”
On second thought, they probably don’t say it like that. However, the general advice on how often to post on TikTok is at least daily.
Of course, if we were robots who didn’t need sleep, inspiration, and social lives, more videos would equal a better chance of blowing up on TikTok. But I’m going to push back again that a little bit. I don’t think you need to post constantly to go viral. Here’s what you need instead:
Post at a rate you can consistently keep up with
Posting 2-3 times per day is hard–you need a lot of content to do that! So unless you’re Gary Vee (if so, hey Gary!) and you have an entire team of content creators and editors cutting, reshaping, and reposting your content 24/7, 2-3 times per day just isn’t feasible.
So let’s flip that “Post multiple times per day!” mantra into something more realistic: aim to post 2-3 times per week. You can always iterate from there, especially after you get a feel for what your followers like to see.
Create quality content every time
Let me say it loud for the people in the back: 👏 QUALITY 👏 OVER 👏 QUANTITY!👏
Sometimes, you can take shortcuts and skimp on quality to get something done. Developing a TikTok presence isn’t one of them. People care about the content they consume, so if you try to crank out a TON of content but sacrifice quality in the process, you’ll be doing MORE work for less engagement.
Test and try new things
Try different content types and posting frequencies to see what works best for your audience.
But don’t worry about this immediately: start with 2-3 times per week, develop the habit of posting consistently, and then go from there.
Don’t *over* post
If you post too much, you can create audience fatigue, making your engagement plummet.
What will be the impact of posting at the best time for brands or creators/influencers?
Here are the benefits you’ll see once you start posting consistently at the best time to post on TikTok for your account:
- Higher engagement: When you post at peak times, you’ll get more likes, comments, and shares.
- Boost in followers: More engagement usually means you’ll get more followers since more people are discovering and enjoying your content.
- Enhanced ROI: Whether you’re paying someone else to create your content or not, optimizing your posting times means you get more back for the time and/or money you’ve spent creating it.
- Visibility: These good things–more engagement, followers, and freed-up resources–can help you build a following on TikTok, strengthening your brand identity and loyalty. (This goes for corporate or personal brands).
How to post on TikTok
Okay, you’re ready to start posting and testing these ideas–great! Here’s how to post on TikTok if you want to do it right now (I’ll recommend some scheduling tools in the next section if you want to schedule it)
- Open the App: Launch the TikTok app on your mobile device.
- Tap the Plus Icon: Tap the “+” icon at the bottom center of the screen to create a new post.
- Record or Upload a Video:
- Record: Press the red button to record a video directly within the app.
- Upload: Tap “Upload” to choose an existing video from your device’s gallery.
- Edit Your Video:
- Add effects, filters, and music using the options on the right-hand side.
- Use the “Trim” tool to cut your video to the desired length.
- Add Details:
- Write a caption to describe your video.
- Add relevant hashtags to increase discoverability.
- Tag friends or other accounts if necessary.
- Adjust Settings:
- Choose who can view your video (public, friends, or private).
- Enable or disable comments, duets, and stitches.
- Post Your Video: Tap “Post” to publish your video to your profile and the For You page.
Free tools for scheduling TikTok posts
Okay, first off, if you’re just trying to build an AMAZING TikTok presence, then make sure you upgrade to a TikTok Pro account. It offers basic analytics and has some scheduling features built in. So, you can plan your posting times and schedule them super effectively (with no hiccups that sometimes come with using third-party software).
But, if you’re trying to grow your social media empire (and honestly, love that for you!), you may need something to help you manage multiple platforms simultaneously.
If so, no worries; I recommend checking out either Later or Buffer. Both are well-respected social media scheduling tools that have a free plan you can use to get started. Check out their websites and see which looks the most appealing to you!
How to get content for TikTok
Okay, now that we’ve discussed the best time to post on TikTok–in general terms and how to figure it out for your account–and how to post and schedule your TikToks, there’s one big question left.
Where do I get content for this?
If you’re researching this because you’re managing an account for a brand, you have quite a few options. You can use:
- Nano and micro influencers. You can collaborate with them to get videos and social media posts. An awesome platform that can help with this is Social Cat. For just $99.00/month, you can get up to 15 videos and posts–which you can cut and mix Gary Vee-style to get even more content. They mostly facilitate gifted collaborations, which means you’ll pay influencers using products.
The downside is that only some content will be great since these influencers are sometimes small, and some need more experience. But at the end of the day, it is super affordable and an excellent way to build a bank of content.
- UGC creators. You can work with professional home studio creators to create UGC for your brand, but it’s more expensive because you pay per video. Many platforms do this, such as Clip or Billo. The advantage of UGC is that the quality is top-notch, and Clip’s videos come with a round of edits included in the price.
- Stock videos. You can also buy stock videos on platforms like Pexels and Shutterstock, but you’ll need to edit them to make them about your brand, so it’s more operationally intense.
If you’re a creator, bad news: you must do this yourself. But don’t worry too much because I have TONS of advice on how to build your portfolio, manage your social media, and generally create content that makes brands want to hire you to promote their things.
But until you get brands knocking down your door asking for collabs, here’s what you can do:
- Improve your content creation skills by practicing for yourself.
- Get more exposure–which should attract brand attention and lead to more deals. (Putting the tips I’ve given you in this article into practice is a great place to start!)
And when you manage to pull it off, it’s pretty cool to have a growing social media following with weekly content! 😉